OFFICERS are hoping Swindon children’s hand-drawn posters will succeed where hard-hitting TV campaigns and double yellow lines have struggled.

A new awareness campaign, to be launched at the start of the next term, will see posters put up around town schools warning drivers of the dangers of parking around schools.

The artworks have all been drawn by Swindon 10-year-olds, with the winning designs picked by Wiltshire Police superintendent Adrian Burt.

And, at a special event held at Gablecross police station, the four winners of the poster competition had some very personal warnings for drivers tempted to flout the law and leave their vehicle on double yellows or hatched no-waiting markers outside schools.

For Katie Goodson, 10, a pupil at Abbey Meads Community Primary School, the case against rogue parking was simple: “It’s against the law.”

Asked what he’d say to someone tempted to leave their car in a no-parking zone, Ruskin Junior School pupil Brandon Trimby, 10, said: “I say, ‘Why are you doing that?’ The double yellow lines mean you can’t park there. It might be blocking someone from getting out their drive.”

Joshua Joseph, nine, a pupil at St Francis Church of England Primary School, added: “If you park on their it may cause an accident. If your car crashes and another car, it might cause a nasty pile-up,

“You shouldn’t do it. If you do, then you’ll face the consequences.”

Rodbourne Cheney youngster Usman Uddin, 10, had a health warning for rogue drivers – telling the Adver the “gas will go to the children”.

Acting Insp David Tippetts, who welcomed the children to Gablecross, said of poor parking around schools: “It affects the safety of everyone who’s around the school at drop-off and pick-up.

“As a parent myself, the one thing I want is for my children to arrive and leave school safely.

“While it might save a few minutes, ultimately it might impact on the safety of others.”

The south Swindon officer said the problem was not getting worse necessarily, but his officers were now more proactive in patrolling outside the school gates and puck-up and drop-off time.

Last year, Park North headteacher Mike Welsh warned that, for many schools, double yellow lines were proving “increasingly ineffective”.

The Goddard Park Primary School chief, who has called for a new school safety zone on the road outside his campus, told the Adver in November: “With police and parking warden number what they are, they can’t be everywhere at once.

“Ultimately, we’ve got to get some kind of deterrent to stop people from parking outside the school and instead encourage them to park 100m away from the school in a safer place.

“Having one of the largest primary schools in Swindon and a busy road, those two things don’t mix. We want to see action now prior to any action involving a child in the future.”